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Drew Mettler grabs attention at Jr. Optimist tournament

By Mike Brohard

Sports Editor

Posted:
06/02/2014 08:47:57 PM MDT

Kylee Tokoi watches the flight of her shot during Monday's Junior Optimist Golf Tournament on Monday at the Olde Course in Loveland. Tokoi won her age group with a round of 83. (Luke Whittaker / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

When Drew Mettler first showed up at the golf course Monday, all anybody took notice of was his pants.

Words might not do them justice — purple SpongeBob SquarePants with a Hawaiian flower theme. By the time he was done playing The Olde Course in the Junior Optimist Golf Tournament, his pants were still part of the conversation — how could they not be? — but it was the score the 14-year old posted that was most shocking.

He carded a 77 to easily win his age group, but it also bested 15 other boys older than he is, with the top three in the 15-18 group shooting 80. It is the third time he has won his age-group title at the event and the second year in a row. But this is the first time his age had him playing 18 holes, and that was only by about 10 days.

Drew Mettler (Luke Whittaker / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

It's been a pretty good run for a youngster who took up the sport rummaging through the house.

"I found my dad's golf clubs in the garage and just started hitting golf balls around," Mettler said. "I've had a few lessons, but I really haven't had many lessons, so I'm kind of self-taught. My dad hadn't played golf in like 12 years."

Now he does, and is trying to keep up with his son, who was one of five entrants to win their age group and hit the qualifying standard to have their tab picked up the the local Optimist group to play in the district tournament. Joining him are Kylee Tokoi (girls 15-18), Lauren Lehigh (girls 10-12), Cameron Poll (boys 12-13) and Elliott Gitt (boys 10-11). Mettler and Tokoi will play at Flatirons Golf Club in Boulder on June 11; the younger players will be at Fitzsimons Golf Course in Aurora on June 18.

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Mettler has also won the district event twice, earning a trip to the international event in Florida. Monday, he said it was his work on the greens which stood out.

"I putted pretty good today," said Mettler, an online student still two years away from high school. "It was a little bit better today than usual, which is good, because my driving wasn't as good as it usually is. I made a lot of putts."

Cole Bundy watches his ball after hitting his second shot on No. 6 during the Junior Optimist Golf Tournament at the Olde Course. Bundy shot an 80, tied for the lead in his age group. (Luke Whittaker / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

So did Tokoi, a two-time state qualifier whose round of 83 topped the girls field. After struggling a bit on the front nine, the Mountain View golfer decided a mental approach was going to be the key to her advancing.

"When I got onto the back nine, I just kept on telling myself that if I wanted to make it I had to par, I had to par, I had to hit a good shot," she said. "I tried telling myself that in the tee box, and when I got to my shot saying I have to hit this good. I was forcing myself too instead of just messing around out there. Putting that pressure on myself helps me more as a player than anything."

The event drew a bigger crowd than last year (36 players in all). Girls age-group winners included Bergen Ellis (14s) and Karly Mathern (13s), while the top boys division had a three-way tie with 80s. Trent Jackson of Estes Park beat Cole Bundy of Loveland in a card playoff, but it was just the start of a new game of golf for Bundy.

He has always played it for fun, but three hours with Wyoming golf coach Joe Jensen (and an offer to play for the Cowboys) turned Bundy's thinking around, approaching the game in a more serious manner. And thinking is the key for him, and his summer reading list includes a trio of books to help him in that regard.

"I figure going to college, I'm going to treat golf almost like a job, a fun job," said Bundy, who was 3-over at the turn before finding some trouble on the back nine. "I'm going to have to work at it more so than I've ever worked at golf before."

Or maybe the game is just as simple as finding a wild pair of pants. Mettler says his are lucky, though they are no guarantee.

"I played in them in a tourney yesterday," he said, commenting "ugh" when asked about that round.

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